Since men have begun to spend more time with their children and more hours caring for those kids, they’ve had less “me” time.

If you’re a working mom you might not believe this, but the reason men are increasingly unhappy with how they balance work and family is because they’re actually helping out more around the house.

Their dissatisfaction is noted in a new research study from the nonprofit Families and Work Institute, which shows that 59% of the dads in two-earner couples are conflicted over the work-life balance, versus just 35 percent of men in 1977. In the same period, 45% of the moms in dual-income families reported feeling conflicted (an increase of just 5%, which the authors say is not statistically significant.)

“Women are more used to their roles than men,” says Ellen Galinsky, president of the Families and Work Institute. “And they’ve seen their mothers balancing work and family before them. But it’s less familiar for men. This generation of fathers has gotten much more involved in family than their fathers did. It’s a new role.”

A new role that is taking its toll, according to the survey, which covered 3,500 workers.

Since men have begun to spend more time with their children and more hours caring for those kids, they’ve had less “me” time. (The number of men caring for their kids has jumped from 21 percent in 1992 to 31 percent this year, notes Galinsky.)

Just how conflicted men feel appears to be tied in directly with how much they work.

“The more men work, the more conflict they have,” Galinsky notes. “If they have a spouse who works for pay, they have more conflict. If they are more family centric, they have less conflict.”

Other factors that contribute to fewer conflicted feelings? According to the research, a supportive supervisor and some autonomy on the job mean the guy feels less conflicted.

Since men have begun to spend more time with their children and more hours caring for those kids, they’ve had less “me” time.

(Borges/Getty)

Women may be able to thank their spouses for not being as dissatisfied with how they balance work and family.

“We may be seeing less stress among women because they have more help: from their husband,” Galinsky theorizes.

Men’s dissatisfaction may stem from the fact that they are simply not used to all the extra work that comes about when couples start sharing household chores, says Sharlene Hesse Biber, a Boston College sociology professor and co-author of “Working Women in America: Split Dreams” (Oxford University Press).

“Men are used to cleaning up the yard, but they do that every two weeks while women wash the dishes every day,” she says. “So when he starts to pitch in, it feels like a lot. Also, if a woman is making more money than her husband, it can eat into his sense of masculinity.”

The study also found that traditional gender roles are losing favor - among men as well as women. Some 60 percent of both women and men say they’re not down with the idea that men should earn the money and women should take care of the children.

Having men and women actually feel the same about something? “Maybe it is a sea change,” Galinsky says.